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What is Politics?
There is a sentiment common around election time that if you do not vote, you have no right to criticise. This is an understandable reaction, but whilst it is certainly true that one fairly consistent aspect of living in a ‘liberal democracy’ is a lack of voter turnout, it would be wrong to equate this…
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Navigating Academia as an Undiagnosed Autistic
What is it like to go to university with undiagnosed #autism? How does the diagnostic process affect this? #REDinstead
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#REDinstead: Autism Acceptance and Why I Will NEVER ‘Light It Up Blue’
What happens when you tell friends and potential employers about your autism? Why is the autistic community so opposed to Autism Speaks and the #LightItUpBlue campaign? How can you show solidarity with your autistic friends?
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Some notes on class, relevance and the Church
Originally posted on Lynne Cullens: The following has been adapted from a series of speaker’s notes I’ve put together and delivered in various forms. It is not meant to be any form of expert view or academic piece, merely a collection of thoughts from my own experience which some have apparently found helpful. Ordsall, in…
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Has the Church Abandoned the Poor?
In April 2018, Philip North, Bishop of Burnley expressed the opinion that there was “a widespread perception among northern DDOs [diocesan directors of ordinands] that candidates from working-class backgrounds with northern accents are victims of prejudice” in the selection process for ordination training. Bishop North has, in recent years, become one of the sharpest critics…
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Does the Church of England Face “Disestablishment by a Thousand Cuts”?
In 2000, the then future Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, predicted that before long the Church of England would experience “disestablishment by a thousand cuts”.1 This did not happen during his tenure as Archbishop, and as we shall see, for various reasons it seems even less likely to happen under the current Archbishop of Canterbury,…
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Helmets, Museums, and Colonialism: What the Staffordshire Hoard Can Teach Us About Ourselves
Who looks after and displays historical artefacts matters. Britain still flexes its colonial muscles, it just does so by using its cultural and academic influence more than its military influence.
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Truth, Freedom of Speech, and the Poppy
This blog is a sort of semi-sequel to this one. If you have not read it, you may like to. In a recent speech, the actor and comedian Stephen Fry expressed his frustration at the apparent death of the political centre ground. The problem, he feels, is that freedom of speech is under attack from both…
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The Church Can No Longer Be Politically Neutral
I can still picture the moment I discovered that there are Christians who believe that climate change is a good thing because it will speed Christ’s return! Much like the famed ‘rapture hatch’, it can be tempting to laugh at such eschatological clumsiness, but for the seriousness of its implications. A similar story emerges with…
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“Constant suspicion and scrutiny.” Time to rethink benefit sanctions
Originally posted on A Fair Say: Church Action on Poverty joined with several churches recently to make a submission to an MPs’ inquiry into benefit sanctions. Lucy Zwolinska of the Joint Public Issues Team explains what we’re asking for. “The threat [of sanctions] is so heavy. It is like being crushed. It seems as if…
Bread and Rosaries 